Volume 3: A Long Journey, Chapter 197: Lord Xiongshan

Xiang Liu and the Phoenix—one red, one green—one extremely ugly, the other extremely handsome—yet they remained inseparable, which was truly strange.
Hou Yi asked, “Could there be a trick?”
Dayu replied, “If it’s Xiang Liu, of course he can’t be trusted. But the Phoenix’s words carry weight; he’s extremely proud and would never resort to deception.”
Zhu Rong and the other two took the pills, and indeed the greenish tint on their faces gradually faded, returning to normal in no time.
Seeing Wu Kong standing in the distance, Zhu Rong excitedly rushed over and said cheerfully, “You’re here too!” Wu Kong replied, “Yes. Are you hurt?”
Zhu Rong pouted and said, “That disgusting worm! And that Phoenix—his fire is even more powerful than mine! I’m lucky you came to save me.”
Wu Kong thought to himself, “I didn’t do much to help. Why should they credit me?” So he praised, “Hou Yi’s divine arrows are truly unmatched in the world!”
Noticing that Wu Kong was struggling against the strong winds there, Zhu Rong said, “Let’s go back and talk.”
After leaving the Golden and Silver Sacred Lands, Dayu naturally asked about what had happened to Zhu Rong and the others earlier.
It turned out that Zhu Rong and the two others had been traveling around the four great continents to see the scenery. They had been away for tens of thousands of years, and many things they once saw had changed greatly, which naturally filled them with emotion. After visiting their old places, Zhu Rong suggested going to Mount Buzhou, as Gonggong had once fought Zhuanxu there, hitting the mountain so hard that a part of the sky collapsed.
Upon arriving at Mount Buzhou, they saw Xiang Liu and the Phoenix, who were setting up a strange array on the mountain. The array wasn’t fully formed yet, and its purpose wasn’t clear, but it surely couldn’t be anything good. Zhu Rong, who hated evil like nothing else, couldn’t tolerate a vicious person like Xiang Liu, so a fierce battle ensued. As the kings of the five elements, it took all three of them to barely hold their own against the Phoenix and Xiang Liu.
Later, the Phoenix and Xiang Liu used a strange supernatural power—a red and green glow resembling a small world. Zhu Rong and the others were immediately poisoned, their combat strength greatly reduced, and they could only struggle to hold on. Fortunately, Dayu and the others arrived in time, allowing them to escape.
Wu Kong asked, “You three were poisoned with an incurable poison, and Xiang Liu was in the upper hand. Why did you still give them an antidote?”
Dayu replied, “Would Xiang Liu do such a losing deal? He wasn’t sure he could dodge Hou Yi’s next arrow, so he offered the antidote in exchange.”
Jumang asked, “What exactly are they trying to do by setting up that array on Mount Buzhou?”
Wu Kong exclaimed, “Could it be that they want to destroy Mount Buzhou and cause the sky to collapse?”
Dayu laughed and said, “That’s absurd. If the sky collapsed, who could survive? What advantage would that bring them?”

Wukong thought for a while. Back then, Gonggong alone was able to collapse Mount Buzhou. If there really were a mad Hunyuan Jinxian who destroyed the Pillars Supporting the Heavens, wouldn’t that harm all living beings in the world? Could the world really be so unstable? This was truly inconceivable.

When Wukong voiced this doubt, Dayu said, “I’ve thought about this too. But the story of Gonggong hitting Mount Buzhou is simply too exaggerated. Look at those towering peaks of Mount Buzhou—each is at least several thousand li in diameter, and their rock is even harder than cast iron. Even if ten Hunyuan Jinxians worked together, it would be hard to move them an inch.”

Wukong asked, “Is Gonggong really that powerful?”

Dayu replied, “That’s exactly the strange part. Though Gonggong is strong, he’s only on par with me. Even if he gave it his all, he couldn’t possibly collapse Mount Buzhou. At the top of Mount Buzhou, there are nine branches supporting the heavens. What Gonggong hit was just one of them, yet that branch was still several hundred li in diameter—absolutely unbreakable.”

Wukong said, “This is truly strange! Logically, Gonggong shouldn’t have been able to break Mount Buzhou, yet he did. Perhaps the formation set up here by Xiangliu and the Phoenix is related to this.”

Dayu said, “These two events are separated by tens of thousands of years. How could they be related?”

Wukong felt something was off but said nothing more, keeping the matter in mind. He looked up at the sky and suddenly asked Dayu, “Have you ever explored what’s at the very highest part of the sky?”

Dayu replied, “Before the Heavenly Court was built, I went up there. At the highest point, there were fierce winds, thunder, and flames—making it impossible to go any further upward.”

Wukong nodded. Since the sky was supported by something tangible, it seemed the world here was like a closed hemisphere, with all living things trapped inside. He wondered if there was another sky beyond this one, and whether the Pillars Supporting the Heavens were natural or man-made.

He had no ability to find answers now and could only leave it for another time.

After some twists and turns, Wukong bid farewell to Dayu and the others, gave a few instructions, and set off eastward in search of Tang Seng. Wukong knew that the quest for the scriptures was either a key to the conflict between Buddhism and Taoism or at least a catalyst for it. Since *Journey to the West* centered around this quest, he needed to unravel the mysteries along the way to understand its origins.

Upon entering Chang’an, Wukong asked around casually and learned that Master Xuanzang had already left the region, leaving him empty-handed.

Wukong headed west along the main road. Beyond the borders of the Tang Dynasty, he indeed saw a man leading a white horse, accompanied by two followers, searching their way through the wilderness.

Wukong approached to take a look. Seeing Tang Seng’s appearance, he couldn’t help but marvel inwardly—what a handsome and virtuous monk! With such a face, it seemed unlikely there was another like him in all the heavens and earth. Suddenly, Tang Seng and his two companions fell into a cave and were captured by a group of demons. Wukong then transformed into a mosquito and flew in, perching on the cave ceiling to observe. He naturally didn’t recognize the tiger demon sitting there. After a while, two more demons arrived, and Wukong was puzzled upon seeing them. It turned out that the “Bear Mountain Lord” mentioned by the tiger king was none other than the black bear demon he had encountered in the three realms. The black bear demon should have been in the Black Wind Cave on Black Wind Mountain—how could he appear here? Although this place wasn’t too far from Black Wind Mountain, it happened that he came here by chance and encountered Tang Seng being captured. Could this just be a coincidence? And that hermit also had a cultivation level no less than that of the black bear demon—unknown was his true identity. The tiger demon sitting there also had the cultivation level of a celestial being, speaking with great respect to the Bear Mountain Lord and the hermit, seemingly knowing their backgrounds. Wukong thought that these two demons, who were of the Taiyi Immortal level, instead of cultivating diligently, came here to mix with the tiger demon—there must be some ulterior motive. Then the black bear demon said, “How is General Yin these days?” The tiger demon got up and laughed heartily, “Thank you, Lord Mountain, for caring.” The black bear demon pointed at Tang Seng and his companions and asked, “Where did these three come from?” General Yin replied, “It’s fate today—these three came right into our trap.” The hermit asked with a smile, “Can we treat them as guests?” General Yin said, “Thanks to your respect, it’s their good fortune.” Then General Yin ordered his subordinates, “Cut open their bellies, remove their hearts, and chop them into pieces to eat!” The demons agreed and were about to act when the black bear demon said, “Wait!” General Yin asked, “What orders do you have, Lord Mountain?” The black bear demon replied, “I see that the monk in the middle has an extraordinary appearance; he must have some special background. Let’s ask him first before killing him. It would be a shame to eat him as just an ordinary person.” General Yin agreed, saying, “You’re absolutely right, Lord Mountain.” Then he ordered, “Bring some cold water!” A few buckets of cold water were poured over Tang Seng and his companions, waking them up. The black bear demon asked, “Where are you from, monk?” Seeing that although the black bear demon was also a demon, his words were kinder and he didn’t talk about killing or eating, Tang Seng felt a little relieved. He replied, “I’ve come from Chang’an, aiming to go to the Western Heaven to worship Buddha and obtain scriptures. I accidentally entered this treasure cave and disturbed your peace. I beg you to spare my life.” The black bear demon narrowed his eyes and asked, “I heard that a monk named Xuanzang emerged in Chang’an and is going to the Western Heaven to fetch scriptures—could you be him?” Tang Seng replied, “It is indeed I.” The black bear demon laughed heartily, “What fate! What great fate!”

General Yin and the Hermit both said, “What fate is this!”
The Black Bear Spirit replied, “You two still don’t know? This Tang Seng is the reincarnation of a Buddha’s disciple, a good person who has practiced for ten lifetimes. Eating a piece of his flesh can prolong life and grant immortality, far better than practicing for ten thousand years.”
General Yin was overjoyed and laughed, “Thankfully, the Mountain Lord asked. If that’s the case, let’s hurry and kill him. With the Mountain Lord’s blessing, I too can achieve immortality!”
The Hermit merely smiled faintly without saying a word, appearing calm as if he had already known about this.
Wukong understood that the Black Bear Spirit and the Hermit were clearly not very interested in Tang Seng’s flesh, while only General Yin was in the dark. The Black Bear Spirit’s intention was not to harm Tang Seng but to save him. It was just unclear which faction of deities they belonged to. From what the Black Bear Spirit said, Tang Seng had just left Chang’an, yet the secret of his flesh had already spread throughout the world. This news must have been deliberately spread to spread so quickly. With this news, Tang Seng’s journey to obtain the scriptures would naturally become much harder—which demon practicing cultivation wouldn’t desire immortality? It seemed this was likely the work of the Three Pure Ones, as nothing else made sense.
Indeed, the Black Bear Spirit said, “General Yin, don’t rush. Tang Seng’s flesh cannot be eaten in a normal way. Right now, he’s in a state of shock, and his flesh has already gone sour. We must wait until he calms down before eating it slowly to achieve the effect of immortality.”
The Hermit agreed, “Exactly! Let’s first chop up those two attendants to use as food, and eat Tang Seng the next day!”
So the little demons rushed over, armed with knives and axes, and slaughtered the two attendants right beside Tang Seng. Seeing the blood, Tang Seng’s eyes rolled back, and he fainted from fear again. Wukong hid above and sneered—this Tang Seng was truly too timid.
General Yin shared the heads and internal organs with the two guests, while he himself took some scraps to eat. Wukong felt extremely uncomfortable seeing this scene of eating human flesh.
Fortunately, these people ate very quickly. In just a short while, the demons devoured the two attendants completely, leaving only a few bones to be carried away.
The Black Bear Spirit patted his stomach, thanked General Yin, and said, “This matter is no trivial affair; we still need to verify its authenticity!” General Yin asked, “How can we tell if it’s real or fake?”
The Black Bear Spirit replied, “It’s very simple. Bring that monk’s bag and see what’s inside.”
Hearing this, Wukong was shocked. In Tang Seng’s bag was a robe given to him by Guanyin Bodhisattva—the very robe used during the “Buddha Robe Ceremony” in the Black Wind Cave. If the Black Bear Spirit saw this robe now, the incident of stealing the robe from the monastery might never happen again. Could it be that his journey through the three realms and the release of many people early on also affected the details of Tang Seng’s quest?

The black bear demon took the package, rummaged through it for a while, then tossed the precious robe aside without even glancing at it. He only took out the pass document and glanced at it before nodding and saying, “Sure enough, it’s Tang Seng! Lock him up for now and eat him another day. What do you think?”
General Yin replied, “We’ll follow the mountain lord’s arrangements.”
The black bear demon packed the package up tightly, threw it casually, and it happened to land on the back of the white horse that Tang Seng was riding on. The demons thought he was showing off on purpose and cheered in approval. Only Wukong noticed the strangeness in the black bear demon’s actions. By packing the package carefully, he was clearly afraid of losing its contents, and this move was obviously meant to prepare for Tang Seng to escape.
Black bear demon, black bear demon, who sent you here?